Deacon Joe Canova speaks to middle schoolers in the Pathway to Grace confirmation prep program at St. Francis Xavier School in Weymouth. Pilot photo/Wes Cipolla
WEYMOUTH -- On Oct. 27, Kelly Byrne, director of the Pathway to Grace confirmation prep program at St. Francis Xavier School in Weymouth, introduced a special guest to her eighth-grade class.
"He's someone very important," she said. "His initials are J.C. He's a carpenter . . . And it's Deacon Joe!"
Deacon Joe Canova of St. Francis Xavier Parish was the guest speaker at that day's class.
"Did anybody think it was going to be Deacon Joe?" Byrne asked.
Deacon Canova told the eighth graders about his own faith journey. His brother always wanted to be a Marine and achieved his dream, only to be killed in Vietnam in 1966. He was 20 years old. Deacon Canova, 19 at the time, stopped going to church in response.
"I wanted nothing to do with God, and I wanted nothing to do with this guy called Jesus Christ," he said. "And it was kind of an awakening, in a way, because I never really gave a lot of thought to God in my life, until I lost my brother."
He was mad at God until his mother was diagnosed with cancer on Mother's Day. She died on Father's Day.
"Instead of turning from God like I did when I lost my brother, I turned to God, and that has certainly made a big difference in my life," he said. "I wanted to know that my mother was okay."
He started teaching confirmation classes and did so for the next 15 years.
"Confirmation is confirming what your parents said on the day you were baptized," he said. "You're confirming your faith life. Basically, you're saying yes to God."
Deacon Canova's talk was one of eighth grader Gavin Nevero's favorite parts of the class so far.
"We got to experience what he experienced, too, throughout his life," he said.
Pathway to Grace began at St. Francis Xavier in 2024, in response to Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley's decision to lower the age of confirmation from 10th grade to eighth grade. School officials and parish faith formation leaders agreed that since St. Francis Xavier was both a parish and a school, they had a unique ability to catechize students while they were already in the classroom. Out of 28 eighth graders in the Class of 2025, 20 received the Sacrament of Confirmation.
"We're a middle school, and we have all these resources dedicated just for middle school students and their development," said Vice Principal Marissa Bianchi. "And we thought it was very important that we do this."
Since the students are in class every day, year after year, the teachers know how to catechize them at their level. In a parish, young people preparing for confirmation may not have attended Mass since their First Communion.
"Here at St. Francis Xavier Middle School, we know the formation, the strong formation these kids have had in their faith," Byrne said. "So that allows us to dig a little deeper into these topics and go into these conversations with a little more depth because of the foundation they've had here at the school."
Seventh graders and eighth graders both take confirmation classes, labeled Prep I and Prep II, respectively. Byrne is teaching the classes with the help of Deacon Canova and Father Kenneth Cannon, pastor of St. Francis Xavier. The classes meet once a week during what would normally be theology class.
"I think it's good because you don't have to go somewhere else to do it," said eighth grader Ethan Nguyen. "You can just stay in school."
Seventh graders use the Faith and Life series by Ignatius Press, which offers a deep dive into the Bible and the Nicene Creed. The eighth graders, who will be confirmed in March 2026, use Youcat, a catechism for young people also published by Ignatius Press. Both seventh and eighth graders are required to do five hours of community service along with taking the class.
"I think it's really helpful," said eighth grader Jack Civello, "because there's always someone you can talk to if you have any questions in the classroom, and if you want to talk about something outside the classroom, and it helps you, it guides you in the right direction for confirmation."